SI's Peter King: Phillips Has to Go, Cowher A Possibility

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Sports Illustrated’s Peter King has been outspoken in his belief that the Dallas Cowboys should fire head coach Wade Phillips, and in a recent appearance on ESPN Radio’s “The Herd,” he expounded on why. Namely, that at 1-6, the Cowboys of 2010 have been awful under Phillips.

Which is true, though there’s been some debate as to just how much of the blame belongs to Phillips. Terence Newman and Mike Ditka have each said that the Cowboys themselves are to blame. King and many others may agree, but they are convinced that if Dallas wishes to see any positive change, Phillips has to go.

“They're just not playing hard,” King said, via the Dallas Morning News. “They're not playing well. They're not focused. Miles Austin is dropping interceptions into the defenders hands. It's not time to say, 'Well, let's salvage the season and let's make a playoff run.' Sometimes you got to make a change just for change's sake and I think the Cowboys have reached that point. Other than beating your head against the wall, it makes no sense in my opinion to keep Wade Phillips."

If Phillips is indeed fired after the season, or before for that matter, who replaces him becomes the $25,000 question. One popular name floating about is Bill Cowher, and though many believe that Cowher couldn’t coexist with Jerry Jones, King isn’t so sure.

"I think it would be a possibility. A lot of people have said, 'Well, he's going to want to run his own show,” King said. “... But I would also make this point, that Bill Parcells left the Dallas Cowboys really liking and respecting Jerry Jones because he knew that if there was something that he really wanted Jerry would listen to him. So, Jerry is not at all an unreasonable GM/executive to work with. And he is not one of these imperialist guys that says, 'Hey, you step back. I'm going to make the decision here.'”